Sister of Shattering Glass: Additional Information for Parents and Teachers

Sister of Shattering Glass is a story for adults and young adults delivered as text messages directly to each person’s smartphone.

Parents and teachers are rightly vigilant about the content young adults are accessing with their smartphones, so we’re eager to be clear about what our story involves. We want adults to evaluate the story and to feel good about sharing it with the young people in their lives.

Some things to know…

The story is a clean, compelling adventure tale. Nothing about it is vulgar, obscene, or offensive. On the contrary, the two young women at the center of the story (who are 10 and 14 years old) must tap into their own independence and strength — and they have to make hard ethical choices based on their own commitment to what’s right — never in a cheesy way, but in a way that’s natural to the story.

We’re eager to encourage literacy and interest in stories in general. For young people who might not yet be fired up to read a whole novel, this is a great way for them to absorb a complex story in tiny doses of reading that add up to a great adventure.

We’re actively encouraging parents to experience the story with their kids. The story offers an ongoing, equal, and mutual foundation for connection — and a jumping off point for deeper conversations.

We typically send just two or three text messages each day—or some days one, or none at all. (That way, the story can unfold gradually over a long period: five months.) We don’t want to annoy you or your kids by glutting their phones with messages. There’s no set time that messages arrive, but we send almost all of them in the late afternoon and on weekends in order to accommodate school schedules.

It’s very easy to stop the story. Simply text back “DONE” to any of the numbers sending texts — and the whole thing will end immediately.

We actively sought and incorporated feedback from youth educators and education groups across Austin. Huge thanks to the following groups: